


Overestimations

by ToInfinityAndBucky



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky makes unnecessary jokes, Crying, Kissing, M/M, Pet Names, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-27
Updated: 2015-05-27
Packaged: 2018-04-01 13:46:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4022137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToInfinityAndBucky/pseuds/ToInfinityAndBucky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He didn't actually mean to hurt Steve's feelings. He loved the guy, why would Bucky do something like that? Apparently they weren't at a stage where Bucky could joke about that...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>or, the one where bucky pulls a move way too soon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Overestimations

**Author's Note:**

> first thing i've posted on here. i'm kinda sorta really excited about it.

It had taken a while for Bucky to go from "missing person case" to "member of The Avengers." Sam had been working for months trying to find the little bastard. Steve had almost felt bad, what with all the priorities he'd dropped right on Sam's shoulders. But, when it came down to it, Steve couldn't find it in him to care about much more than Bucky. Initially, they planned on treating him like a criminal - he was a trained Hydra assassin, after all. But Steve had to get involved. And he had to convince the countless doctors and scientists and even Tony fucking Stark, for gods sake, that Bucky wasn't just a brainwashed tin soldier. 

So, after a while of debating and arguing, and Natasha occasionally threatening to tie Barnes to a chair and yell at him in Russian, they agreed to keep the guy safe. He had already gained back some basic knowledge, but not much; he knew he knew Steve, at least. Then began the process of Bucky regaining his memories. Steve wasn't present for any of that. After hearing about what Hydra did to erase the memories, Steve wasn't sure he was keen on seeing them get put back. He was fine with pacing the common room with Nat scrolling through any and every article she could find about calming down a super-soldier - surprisingly, there wasn't much to help her case. Sam would always show up before Natasha had the chance to grab Steve by the ear and pin him to the ground. 

Altogether, it was a six-month ordeal, full of memory restorations and therapy sessions and doctor visits, but Bucky had gone back to being himself. Or, a version of himself. He knew about the war, and before the war, and of course he knew about Steve. He'd still have nightmares every now and then, where he'd wake up yelling and panting, but he'd never let anyone help him. He'd shoo Steve out of the room, mumbling some crap about "not needin' help, I ain't no kid, dammit," and Steve always went. Eventually, Bucky would accept a few pats on the back or a few comforting words, but he'd never let anyone baby him. He wanted to help himself, get over whatever was wrong on his own. He saw it as strength, Steve saw it as stubbornness, but he did it anyways. 

They finally reached a turning point two months after Bucky's memory was as restored as it could be. Steve was asleep, albeit lightly, when he felt his bed dip. He cracked open an eye - if we was to freak out, and Bucky didn't plan on killing him, he'd probably still get killed - and slid a hand across the empty sheets. Bucky held it silently. They didn't say anything. Bucky just sat and held his hand. When Steve woke up, Bucky was asleep in the chair across the room. He left the room as quietly as possible, but not without gently laying a blanket over the sleeping man's form. About half an hour later, Bucky came shuffling into the kitchen on the Avengers' floor. He sent Steve a small smile as he passed, patting the bigger man's hip as he reached for a mug of coffee. It felt so natural. When Nat questioned him about it, Steve could only shrug. 

For weeks Bucky would go to Steve's room and sleep on that uncomfortable little chair. He didn't have nightmares anymore, though. Everyone said it was Bucky being around Steve. Neither of them believed it. One night, Bucky managed to fall asleep in Cap's bed. Steve didn't even react when he woke up with an armful of super-soldier. Bucky apologized for a while. Cap would just drop kisses on the top of his head, pat him on the shoulder, tell him "you're perfectly fine, Buck," and that was that. Bucky started sleeping in Steve's room full time after that. Every now and then he'd sleep in his own, but he spent a majority of his time in Steve's. 

They fell into a comfortable loop after that. Bucky sleeping in Steve's room, both of them waking up around the same time, Steve accompanying Bucky to his occasional check-ups and physicals. There was talk about him becoming an Avenger officially. Nobody was surprised. Bucky got along with everyone pretty well. One day, Bucky kissed Steve right on the mouth. Steve went along with it. It just fell right into their loop. 

Every now and then, they'd all get downtime. Steve would make Bucky sit down and shut up for just a little bit, silently praying that he'd be able to have some time with his best guy. Even if he pretended not to, Bucky loved it. 

"Rogers," an incessant knocking could be heard on the other side of his door, and Steve tried to not roll his eyes at Rhodey's attempt at sounding serious. 

"Gimme a minute," Steve called back, looking down at Bucky, who'd been looking up at him with eyes filled with disdain. He obviously didn't like the idea of getting up, either. "C'mon, Buck."

Bucky just shook his head and stood up from Steve's bed. They followed Rhodey to some conference room, to another meeting about "everyone wants to kill us" and the like. Sam pulled Steve aside after the meeting, just as Wanda handed him some kind of envelope. 

"Hill said to get this to Natasha," she said simply. 

"And she can't do it herself?"

"You're a soldier, Captain Rogers," the girl called over her shoulder, already following Vision somewhere. Steve groaned. 

"Bucky, can you run this to Nat? Sam needs me for a second."

"Who the hell is Bucky?"

Everyone froze dead in their tracks. Sam looked over to Steve, who was looking at Bucky with big, hurt eyes. He turned around and walked away, shoving the envelope against Sam's chest. 

He didn't actually mean to hurt Steve's feelings. He loved the guy, why would Bucky do something like that? Apparently they weren't at a stage where Bucky could joke about that...

He cracked the door of Steve's room open the tiniest bit, a quiet sniffle finding it's way to Bucky's ears. His heart shattered. Steve was sitting on the edge of his bed, back facing the door. His broad shoulders were shaking, and Bucky knew that he was not laughing. Fuck, he'd messed up bad. Real bad. Bucky hadn't seen Steve that torn up since before the war, before everything. 

"Stevie?" Bucky called out softly, waking into the room and closing the door behind him. He made his way to Steve slowly, like he was approaching an animal. "Steve, what's wrong?"

Steve shook his head. He flinched a bit when Bucky laid a hand on his back. 

"Sugar, please talk to me."

"I thought you were gone," Steve whispered. "You didn't know yourself..."

"Steve, I'm fine," Bucky assured him, crouching down in front of him. "Baby doll, please. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"Do you know what I went through to get you here?" Steve's voice rose in volume. "All this time...making Sam travel all over trying to track you down...I sat and waited every time you were getting your memory restored, you know that?"

"I know, doll, and I'm sorry-"

"Almost a year of waitin' for you. All I've wanted for nine whole months, nine, Buck, was for you to come back to me. For you to not look at me like a stranger anymore," sighing, Steve stood up and paced across the room, narrowly avoiding knocking Bucky over. "And you think makin' a joke is the right thing to do?"

Bucky himself stood up, rubbing his arm, the real one, while not meeting Steve's eyes. "I didn't think you'd take it so bad."

There were footsteps crossing the room. Bucky didn't look up. Steve cupped the side of his face, gently tilting Bucky's head up. Buck could hardly breathe in that moment. Steve just leaned forward and kissed the life out of him, all unrelentingly soft lips and nothing else. Bucky felt his knees go a little weak. 

Steve pulled away first, resting his forehead against Bucky's. "End of the line, right?"

"End of the line," the other man nodded, kissing Steve's forehead.

Steve let out a snort of a laugh. "Yeah, well it ain't the end yet."

"Trust me, you ain't gettin' rid of me any time soon, doll."


End file.
